Nigerian ex-minister's wife held

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/africa/7870273.stm

Version 0 of 1.

The wife of a former oil minister has been kidnapped by an armed gang in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta.

Gladys Daukoru was seized from a bar in the city of Port Harcourt on Tuesday evening, police said.

Two other Nigerians, an oil worker and an electoral official, were kidnapped in apparently unconnected attacks in the city on Monday.

Kidnappings of people linked to the oil industry by unidentified gunmen have been on the rise in recent months.

Edmund Daukoru was a minister in charge of oil investment under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and a former general secretary of the oil cartel Opec.

Some militants claim to be fighting for greater control over the Niger Delta's oil wealth, however, other gangs of armed, jobless youths make money from extortion and kidnapping.

Last week an 11-year-old girl was shot dead trying to protect her nine-year-old brother from being kidnapped.

A Catholic priest was also taken from the steps of his church and later released.

Some analysts says the increase in kidnappings is linked to a clamp down by the military on oil theft by gangs.

The Delta's most publically visible group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), has not commented on the latest kidnappings.

It continues to hold two British hostages seized in September.

Mend has promised "sweeping attacks" on oil infrastructure in the next few weeks after it called off a four-month ceasefire last week.

It said an attack by the military on one of its allies showed the government was not serious about dialogue.